Leo Panitch and Sam Gindin (authors of The Making of Global Capitalism: The Political Economy of American Empire): As long as effective demand remains low and banks demand austerity to protect their assets, the crisis will deepen.

Part Two: The Crisis and Who Has the Power

Major structural change or effective short term reforms requires addressing democratic decision making starting with making banks a public utility.

Michael Hudson (Department of Economics, University of Missouri, Kansas City, and author of The Bubble and Beyond): Shoveling money to the banks not meant to create jobs, it’s a way to give banks even more speculative capital and prepare them for another meltdown.